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Action Alert on Zika Legislation

We want to provide you with an update on the latest proposed legislation for Zika and a quick summary of the status of this growing health concern.

As Environmental Health professionals you know the best way to stop the spread of Zika is a real coordinated investment into vector control programs now.

Congress has already delayed too long. All sides must return to the negotiating table immediately to craft a package that can be passed by both chambers and signed by the President.

Please contact your U.S. Senator today to:

Ask him or her to pass the $1.1 billion Zika bill

Urge that the bill be passed without waivers or amendments

Current Zika Statistics:

There are now nearly 12,000 cases of Zika in the country.

Over 29 locally-transmitted cases of Zika have been identified in Florida, and experts predict others will occur in Texas and in Louisiana, a situation exacerbated by recent flooding.

The CDC reports that 584 pregnant women in the U.S. and an additional 812 in the territories have been infected with Zika.

Given that Zika infection is often asymptomatic, the reported number of cases is likely an undercount of the actual number of cases.

To date, over a dozen babies in the U.S. have been born with microcephaly and, tragically, one of those infants has died.

The Administration has declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico, where experts predict that 25 percent of the island will become infected with the virus by the end of 2016, including thousands of pregnant women.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued the first-ever domestic travel advisory, warning pregnant women not to travel to areas of Florida where local transmission of Zika is occurring.